Miraculous Ladybug: Confessions
by Gentlewolf
Summary: I wrote this fanfic to take place at the end of the first season, in anticipation for season 2. It has been posted to my DeviantArt account for a year now and I felt it was time to post it here. Marinette is asked out on a date by Adrien to see the Ice Skating Championships. While there trouble brews and their true identities become know to one another.
1. Chapter 1

**Miraculous Ladybug – Confessions Part 1**

It was a typical morning at the Collège Françoise Dupont. The students of Miss Bustier's class were getting ready to start their day. Upon her arrival, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was pleased to see that her crush, Adrien Agreste, was already seated in the front row.

"Good Morning, Marinette," he greeted her with a charming smile. Feeling her knees go weak when his brilliant green eyes met with hers, Marinette stumbled on the first step up the middle aisle. Adrien's hand shot out to steady her as she passed. "Careful," he told her with a note of concern.

"T…Thanks…," Marinette gave him a nervous laugh as she successfully took the next couple of steps to take her seat behind him. "I'll never wash this arm again," she whispered to her best friend, Alya Césaire, who was already sitting beside her.

"Gross," Alya whispered back in a teasing voice as she shoulder-bumped her love-struck friend.

The light-hearted atmosphere was soon interrupted, though, when the loud mouthed, spoiled Mayor's daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, suddenly threw open the classroom door and flung herself towards her prey. "Adrienkins!" she exclaimed, grabbing hold of Adrien's hands from across the desk. "Daddy managed to get me two VIP tickets to the Ice Skating Championships, tonight! You'll go with me, of course!"

Trying to hide how taken back he was by her sudden appearance and bold expectations, it was all that Adrien could do not to pull his hands away. Chloe was a childhood friend, after all. "I already have tickets, Chloe, since my dad is one of the sponsors of the show."

"Oh… Well in that case, I'll just tell daddy that I don't need these," Chloe exclaimed about the tickets, "We'll just use yours."

It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Adrien's father, the famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, would be a sponsor for the Ice Skating Championships but Chloe's refusal to see that Adrien didn't have any feelings for her beyond friendship was shocking. While Marinette stewed with anger over the way Chloe was acting, it was Alya who suggested, "Since you both have tickets, why not share the wealth and take someone who doesn't?"

"Why would I do that?" Chloe stated as a matter of fact.

"I think it's a great idea!" Adrien jumped onto the idea.

With an all-knowing grin, Alya continued, "Adrien should take Marinette and Chloe, maybe you should take Kim." Everyone knew that the class athlete, Lê Chiến Kim,had a crush on Chloe.

"What!" echoed both Chloe and Marinette at the same time. Chloe out of disgust and Marinette from disbelief.

"What a perfect idea!" Adrien grinned and turned to Marinette to ask, "would you like to go to the Ice Skating Championships with me?"

To stunned to answer, Marinette stared at Adrien with her mouth slightly agape. Alya gently bumped into her shoulder and spoke in her stead. "She says yes, don't you, Marinette?"

"Huh? L..Love to, yes, would I…," Marinette replied, mixing up her words in her typical nervous manner.

"What's that supposed to mean? It's not very clear," Chloe huffed with an air of annoyance.

"It means yes!" Alya snapped.

"Perfect, I'll pick you up at six O'clock," Adrien told Marinette just before the teacher entered the room and called the class to order.

After school, Alya walked home with Marinette. "You have to help me figure out what to wear," Marinette had told Alya earlier in the day. Both girls were now in Marinette's room of her parent's apartment above their renowned bakery, The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. "I don't like this outfit, either," Marinette cried in frustration as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Calm down, girl. Here, try this," Alya told her from where she had been going through Marinette's clothes. Alya shook her head with a sigh after viewing the pile of outfits that Marinette had already tried on.

"I don't have anything that's right to wear on a d…d… date with Adrien!" Marinette was nearly in panic mode again. After slipping into the next outfit, she stared at herself with wide eyes. "I look like Ladybug!" she moaned, referring to her secret alter-ego, superhero self, which nobody knew about.

"It's perfect!" Alya exclaimed. "Adrien likes Ladybug."

"How would you know that?" Marinette asked skeptically. She was now wearing a short red flared skirt with black leggings and a black cami under a red waistcoat of her own design.

"Of course I know, I run the Ladyblog, remember!" Alya reminded her friend of the blog that she ran which contained all the latest news about Ladybug.

Meanwhile, there was a knock on the door, downstairs. Mr. Dupain, Marinette's father, answered extra exuberantly. "Adrien! Come in, come in! It's nice to see you again!"

"Good evening, Mr. Dupain… Mrs. Cheng…," Adrien entered the living room and greeted Marinette's parents respectfully.

"Good evening, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng replied with a cheerful smile. "I'll let Marinette know you're here!" From the bottom of the stairs where she had been standing, Mrs. Cheng yelled, "Marinette, Adrien's here!" She then turned back to Adrien and continued to say, "I hope she doesn't take much longer. She's been up there with Alya for quite a while, now." Mrs. Cheng motioned to the couch. "Please sit down."

"How about a cream puff," Mr. Dupain chimed in, picking up the platter stacked with the round, puffy desserts that had been sitting on the coffee table. "Baked fresh out of the oven."

Just before Adrien could accept, Marinette's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Dad, we don't have time for that!"

Adrien's eyes widened in surprise when his gaze found her. "Ladybug?" he started to say, quickly standing back up from the couch. He corrected himself upon a second glance. "Marinette, wow, you look great!" As he watched her descend the stairs he became aware of her parent's all-knowing grins. He quickly cleared his throat and added, "that is… wow, your outfit! Did you design it yourself? Maybe you should show it to my father. He might include it in his next show."

Initially, Marinette could feel the heat in her cheeks at Adrien's reaction, but she was more worried about her parents telling him unnecessary things. "Do you really think your father would take an interest in it?" While leading Adrien to the door she grabbed a cream puff and handed it to him. "Shouldn't we be going? Won't there be a lot of traffic? The Arena is bound to be packed." She glanced up at the top of the stairs to wave goodbye to Alya while mouthing a thank you to her before following him out the door.

"You're off so quick?" Mr. Dupain almost seemed to pout. "Well okay, have fun, don't be out too late, it's still a school night!"

Marinette let out a sigh of relief when Adrien closed the car door for her after she had slid into the back seat of the car that his bodyguard drove. She was happy to have gotten away from her parents before they could get too nosey about Adrien. However, she was now becoming aware of her nerves over being on a date with him.

"These are amazing!" Adrien exclaimed, holding up the now half eaten cream puff as he slid into the other side of the car, next to her. "I'll have to stop by another day to buy some more."

Adrien's bodyguard pulled the car away from the curb and they were on their way. The trip to the Skating Arena was filled with small talk which revolved around school and their parents. Most of the conversations were initiated by Adrien while Marinette simply focused on keeping her responses coherent.

Thanks to Adrien's bodyguard and the location of their seats, getting into the Arena wasn't a problem at all. From their box seats in the VIP section, they had a commanding view over the ice. They had some time to spare before the start of the show. Marinette busied herself with watching the skaters warm up.

"Do you have a favorite?" Adrien broke the silence between them to ask, gesturing towards the rink.

Completely distracted, Marinette was startled at the sound of his voice. She blinked at him for a moment as she processed his question. "Well… I've always liked Claudette Dubois. She's won the gold metal for the past three years." Marinette pointed out the young woman on the ice. "But, that person there seems rather good, too," she pointed to someone else. "I wonder who she is…"

Adrien had to lean closer to Marinette to get a good view of the second skater whom she pointed out. At that moment, he caught the scent of cream puffs. "mmm…"

"Well, clearly you don't know anything. That's Dominique Bernard, the next up in coming star on the ice." Marinette cringed at the sound of Chloe's voice. "Adrienkins, isn't this perfect, my seats right next to yours!" Chloe looped her arm through Adrien's as she sat on the opposite side of him from Marinette. "It's just too bad that we have all the extra baggage."

Looking to the other side of Chloe, Marinette saw that instead of Kim, Chloe had brought Sabrina along. "Isn't that awful rude to say about your best friend?"

Chloe shrugged, "She begged me to bring her with. Better her then that bubbling idiot, Kim. At least one of us will enjoy the show. I personally find these things boring. But it's all worth it to spend time with Adrienkins!"

Shaking with anger, Marinette was prevented from giving Chloe a piece of her mind when Adrien suddenly took and gently squeezed her hand. "Look, the shows about to start," he announced with a nod towards the ice.

Claudette Dubois' routine was one of the best that Marinette believed she had ever seen. That is, until Dominique Bernard's performance, which completely blew the former out of the arena. It was obvious from the scores who would win the gold metal and from their spectacular view point, Marinette watched as a distraught Claudette ran away from the rink. "I'll be back," she told Adrien as she stood from her seat. There was still the awards ceremony, and before that Marinette wished that she might find Claudette and offer some words of encouragement. Leaving the VIP seating area, Marinette made her way towards the locker rooms, hoping that she might find Claudette. Unfortunately, security was tighter then she anticipated and she couldn't get close.

"What were you expecting?" Tikki, her ladybug stuffed animal looking Kwami – which enabled her to transform into the superhero, Ladybug, with her miraculous earrings – asked.

"She just looked so disappointed and downhearted. Isn't that normally when an Akuma shows up?" Marinette observed about the evil black moths that possessed people who had been weakened by some sort of trauma in their life. The Akuma were sent and controlled by the supervillain Hawk-Moth, who promised those possessed by the Akuma the ability to get revenge against the world in exchange for steeling the miraculous'. Aside for Marinette's miraculous, there was one other. The ring belonging to Cat Noir, Ladybug's partner, whose identity was also a complete secret to everyone.

"Well, maybe," Tikki responded, but was cut off at the sound of an explosion.

"Tikki, Spots on!" Marinette yelled, starting her transformation into Ladybug. She was soon standing in the hall wearing her ladybug masquerade mask and a red with black spots bodysuit with her magical yo-yo hanging around her waist. She took off running towards the ice and was soon met by a screaming crowd trying to escape.

"Ladybug! It's Ladybug!"

"Save us, Ladybug!"

"Ladybug, help us!"

"Alright everybody, calm down. Please walk, but hurry… This way!" Ladybug directed everyone towards the emergency exit.

"Bwah, hahaha," came an evil sounding laugh. "I am the Ice Queen! I am the only one here… no, the only one in the world who is worthy of the gold metal! No one will take the Gold away from me!"

Ladybug fought her way through the crowd, back towards the rink where she caught her first glimpse of the one calling herself Ice Queen. The akumatized skater was entirely blue, though different shades, from her skin tone to her hair and outfit.

"Give me that metal," Ice Queen demanded as she approached the man who had been prepared to award the winner, Dominique Bernard, who was already trapped against the wall by rings of ice around her wrists, ankles, and waist. "That metal belongs to me!" Ice Queen prepared to attack by kicking a leg up as she bent to touch the ice. This action sent blades flying from her skates towards her target. Except that Ladybug managed to knock Ice Queen's leg out of the way with her magical yo-yo. Ice Queen let out a yell of rage and turned to face Ladybug. "You'll pay for that!"

Catching a glimpse of the VIP seating, Ladybug spotted Chloe glued to the glass, cheering her on. Though Chloe was rude to everyone else, except for Adrien, she idolized Ladybug. Behind Chloe, Ladybug saw Adrien trying to get everyone out of the box. "Is that so?" Ladybug responded to Ice Queen. "Then come get me!" she taunted and ran towards one of the emergency exits to lead Ice Queen away. Once outside, Ladybug used her magical yo-yo to swing above and onto the roof. Ladybug's hope was that Ice Queen would be rendered helpless without access to the rink. However, those hopes were crushed when a circle of ice, at least fifteen feet in diameter, followed beneath Ice Queen wherever she went.

"Get back here, Bug, so I can smash you!" Ice Queen made a series of triple axel jumps, each spin sent out a ring of ice in Ladybug's direction.

"Mind if I cut in, milady?" Cat Noir asked when he suddenly landed in front of Ladybug, spinning his weapon to shield them both from the attack. He was dressed in a black leather-like bodysuit with cat ears made of the same type of material sitting atop his blond hair. A black belt tied around his waist acted as a cat's tail, flowing long behind him. His green eyes were visible through the black masquerade mask on his face. A golden cat bell hung at his neck from the zipper of his bodysuit. His weapon was a black staff that changed in length depending on what it was being used for.

"Cat Noir! You're here, perfect! Keep her busy!" Ladybug said with a sense of urgency. Throwing her magical yo-yo into the air, she called upon her lucky charm – a random object that would be created to help defeat their foe.

"Anything for you, Bugaboo!" Cat Noir said before he twirled his staff and jumped into action to deflect the next round of ice rings that had been sent their way.

I think the Akuma is in her skate," Ladybug explained, talking about what item had been used to possess Claudette. That item needed to be broken in order to capture the Akuma.

Having dodged an attack of flying blades that were created by Ice Queens jumps, Cat Noir landed in a cat like position within throwing distance of Ladybug.

"Here!" Ladybug tossed her lucky charm at him, which he nimbly caught. It was a red jar with black spots. "Use it to catch the Akuma. I'll take care of it when I get back."

"Wait, what?" Cat Noir stood up, positioned the jar under one arm and grabbed Ladybug's hand to pull her away from one of Ice Queens attacks. "Where are you going?"

"Let go of me, Cat Noir," Ladybug yelled as she tried to pull her hand out of his. "I have to go back! Adrien's still in the arena!"

"No he isn't… he… I helped evacuate the VIP box."

Ladybug stared at him in disbelief. "How did you know Adrien was in the VIP section?"

"Of… of course he was...," Cat Noir started to stutter. "You're talking about the super model, right? Who doesn't know Adrien Agreste?" Shoving the lucky charm jar back into Ladybug's unexpecting arms, he grabbed her up under one arm and ran. Using his staff to vault over the edge of the roof, together they fell to the ground, landing safely. Cat Noir continued to run, still carrying Ladybug, in order to draw Ice Queen away from the Arena. Finally coming to a stop, Cat Noir picked up the conversation where they left off. "So, you're one of his fangirl's?" he asked, talking about Adrien, when he released her.

"What? No, that's not it!" Ladybug exclaimed in panic. At Cat Noirs smirk, she tried to explain. "He's my classmate and a really nice guy. He's not stuck up or arrogant… like some people I know," she rolled her eyes at the thought of Chloe. "He even tried to stick up for me once, against that suggested stuck up and arrogant person. He's really very sweet…"

Cat Noir stared at her in astonishment. So, his beloved Ladybug was indeed someone that he personally knew. He couldn't help but wonder how she might react to discover that he, Cat Noir, was Adrien. Opening his mouth, he considered revealing his identity. At that moment, the light breeze that blew around them brought a familiar scent to his cat like nose; cream puffs.

"Break it up, Love birds," cackled Ice Queen.

Caught by surprise due to their discussion, Ladybug and Cat Noir found themselves in the mists of another attack. A series of ice rings made them separate. As Cat Noir rolled to the side, one of the rings caught and sent him flying back into a tree and trapped him there. Ladybug managed to dodge a couple of the rings, but was just a fraction of a second too slow to block a round of blade attacks by spinning her magical yo-yo to deflect them. Ladybug was driven back against the wall of a building with enough force to make her lose consciousness. Her body slid down and crumpled on the ground.

"No, LB!" Cat Noir yelled with mixed concern and rage when he caught sight of Ladybug's helpless body.

"Now I can get both of your Miraculouses! Then I can go hunt down that Dominique Bernard!" Ice Queen gave a malicious laugh that echoed with darkness.

 **~To Be Continued~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Miraculous Ladybug – Confessions Part 2**

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir called upon his special ability to destroy anything he touches. Bringing his hand around to the tree that he was trapped against by one of Ice Queen's rings of ice, the tree started to rot and crumble. By leaps and bounds he quickly made it to Ladybug's side before Ice Queen, who screamed with rage behind him. The last black spot on Ladybug's red miraculous earrings started to blink, indicating that she would soon be transformed back into her normal self.

"Lets get you out of here, Milady," Chat Noir spoke in a gentle tone as he scooped Ladybug up into his arms and took off at an unimaginable speed to take her somewhere safe. It wasn't until the sudden appearance of Ladybug's Kwami that he came to a stop. This was it, with a simple downward glance, he would know the true identity of the girl that he loved.

"Stop! Don't look!" Ladybug's kwami yelled to him as she frantically flew in front of his face. She put her tiny hands on his nose, forcing his go to cross eyed by being so close. "You can't look, Chat Noir!"

"I… I won't," Chat Noir replied, blinking his eyes back into focus. He wasn't surprised by her appearance, being that he had a kwami himself. This was his first-time meeting Ladybug's kawami, though. "Is she alright?" he asked about the mysterious girl in his arms.

"Don't look!" the kwami warned one more time before flying down to pat Marinette's face.

"T… Tikki?" Marinette moaned with confusion before looking to see who was holding her. "Cha… Chat Noir!" she squeaked in surprise and threw her arms around his neck to hide her face against his shoulder. Having accidently knocked Tikki out of the air, the little kwami landed in Marinette's lap when Chat Noir adjusted their position.

"I'm not looking… I haven't seen anything," Chat Noir spoke, flustered over the situation that he was in. Unsure of how much more his heart could take, he carried her into an alley way, where he bent to one knee. "I'm going to put you down. Don't worry, my eyes are closed." After gently setting her on the ground, he quickly stood back up and turned around.

"Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty…," came Ice Queen's voice from the distance.

"I'll keep her distracted," Chat Noir started to say as he pulled something out of a hidden pocket. Marinette wrinkled her nose at a sudden strong odor. "Tikki," he addressed Ladybug's kwami and held his hand out to the side with a piece of camembert cheese. "I'm sorry it's all I have. It's the only thing that Plagg will eat." Having referred to his own kwami by name, and knowing that the kwami's needed to eat in order to have the strength to transform them into their superhero alter egos, he offered it to her before leaving to lead Ice Queen away.

"T… Tikki, Did he see my identity?" Marinette asked back in the alley.

"I don't think so," TikKi shook her head and gave a nasally reply as she plugged her nose. Not being one to complain, the ladybug kwami silently wondered how anyone could eat this stuff. Before losing her resolve to eat she shoved the cheese into her mouth with as few gulps as she could to finish it off.

"Tikki, Spots on!" Marinette called just as soon as Tikki seemed ready. She was anxious to jump back into battle. It looked like Chat Noir had successfully evacuated the area of civilians and she arrived just in time to watch Ice Queen jump with the intention to send a blade attack at him.

"Chat Noir, bread her skates!" Marinette, now in her alter-ego form as Ladybug, instructed.

Chat Noir was already prepared for action and threw his staff at the appropriate angle to slip between the blade and shoe of her skate. Rolling under Ice Queen to dodge her attack, Chat Noir grabbed hold of his staff from where it stuck out from her skate, and twisted. The action threw her off course and Ice Queen came crashing down onto the solid ground. With her ice skate now cracked, the akuma was released.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma!" Ladybug stepped in, swinging her magical yo-yo to catch the little black moth. "Time to De-evilise!"

When the akuma was turned back into it's original white color, Ladybug bid it goodbye. Not having used the lucky charm that she had previously called upon, a red and black spotted jar, she threw it into the air calling out, "Miraculous Ladybug," to magically restore all of the damage that had been previously done in the battle. A very confused Claudette Dubois sat where her alter-ego supervillain form, Ice Queen, had landed after Chat Noir's attack, appearing to be completely unharmed.

Relieved that it was over, Ladybug turned out of reflex to bump fists with Chat Noir as they did after every encounter that they had won. However, Chat Noir didn't raise his fist to hers in return. Rather, he stared at her in contemplation. At her look of concern, he offered a charming smile. Before either could react, his disguise started to dissipate.

"Looks like the cats out of the bag," Adrien said with a nervous laugh as he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. He watched as Ladybug's stare changed from one of shock, to disbelief, and he cheek turned red before she suddenly ran away without a word.

The next morning, Marinette refused to get out of bed. She'd hardly slept at all after returning home. Of course, the incident at the Arena had been all over the news. Her parents had been relieved to see her, but were worried that Adrien hadn't brought her home. She simply explained that they had become separated during the commotion. Feigning being tired, she'd dodged their questions and had gone straight to bed. Her beloved crush, Adrien, was Chat Noir… How could that be? How had she missed the signs? All this time that she'd been fighting as Ladybug, Adrien had been by her side as Chat Noir… It all confused her. Adrien and Chat Noir were nothing alike. Chat Noir was an uncontrollable flirt… Adrien was a gentleman. As Marinette, she could hardly speak properly in Adrien's presence. How could she continue her leadership role as Ladybug in their superhero duo knowing that Chat Noir is Adrien?

A knock on her door startled her and she pulled the blankets over her head with a moan. Soon her father's deep and gentle voice filled her ears as he entered her room. "Adrien stopped by last night after you had already gone to bed," he said after sitting on the edge of bed. "He was relieved that you had made it home on your own and apologized for having become separated from you." After a short pause, as if expecting her to respond, he continued. "He seems like a respectable enough young man, but if he did anything to you…"

Hearing the threatening tone in her father's voice, Marinette sat up suddenly to cut off his thoughts before he could put them into words. "No, dad! Adrien didn't do anything! He was trying to evacuate everyone to safety and we got separated. I'm just… not feeling well. Last night was… really scary. Can I please just stay home?"

Mr. Dupain stared at his daughter, full of concern, before bringing a large hand up to gently caress her cheek. He could tell how shaken she was by last nights events, though he wouldn't know the full truth behind her distress. "Alright. I'll call the school and let them know you'll return on Monday."

Thank goodness it was Friday, Marinette thought. It meant she wouldn't have to face Adrien for three whole days.

Or so she hoped.

That did not mean, however, that she wouldn't see Alya just as soon as School was over.

"Come on, girl, you can talk to me," Alya insisted after Marinette continued to sit on her bed looking down heartened.

Marinette just shook her head. "Alya, I can't… I'm sorry."

Being the cleaver girl that she was, Alya quickly concluded that this didn't have anything to do with the attack at the Arena. At least, not directly. "You know, I wish I had been there! I could have gotten some amazing footage for my Ladyblog." Marinette's lack of interest in the subject confirmed her suspicions and Alya continued. "It's about Adrien, isn't it?"

"What? No! I mean… Why would you think that?"

Alya gave her friend a knowing smirk. "Because Adrien wasn't himself at school, today."

"He… He wasn't?" Marinette tried not to act too interested, but of course her best friend saw right through her.

"Of course, Chloe kept going on and on about how cool Ladybug was when she was taking on the Ice Queen, but rather then respond Adrien seemed really distracted. I mean, I know he likes Ladybug and all, but…"

Before Alya could finish her sentence, Marinette suddenly cut her off. "What if Adrien found out Ladybug's identity? Do you think he'd still like her?"

Taken back for a moment, a thought come to Alya's mind and she eyed her friend with presumption. "You think that Adrien won't like you?" Alya drew closer to and put her hands on both of Marinette's shoulders. "Don't be silly, you can't give up like that! Who knows who Ladybug is and what are the chances of Adrien figuring it out? Besides… that's like… a celebrity crush! What are the chances of you ever meeting and your celebrity crush falling in love with you?"

Alya meant well, of course, and Marinette understood her point, but. "um, Alya… Adrien is my celebrity crush." Marinette reminded her. True he wasn't a superhero like Ladybug, but he was a famous model. But then again, no, he was a superhero, too. He was Chat Noir. Dejected, Marinette hung her head. It was all getting confusing. What if Adrien found out that she was Ladybug, and was disappointed that Ladybug wasn't someone else? She couldn't explain that to Alya, because Alya didn't know that she was Ladybug.

"You know what you need?" Alya decided it was time to change the subject. "You need to get dressed so that we can go out and have some fun," she suggested. "Let's get your mind off of things!"

After quickly washing up and getting ready, Marinette found herself being dragged out the door. "Don't worry, Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng. I'll take care of her!" Alya told her parents in passing.

"Alya, where are we going?" Marinette wondered out loud.

"I thought we'd go to the movies! There's a new one out that looks really interesting!"

With that, Marinette soon found herself at the theater. It was easy to soon forget about her worries, having a night out with a friend. The movie was a romantic comedy that left Marinette feeling oddly hopeful. She came to the conclusion that she'd just have to make sure to keep her identity as Ladybug a secret until she'd made Adrien fall so much in love with her as Marinette that he didn't need Ladybug anymore.

As she and Alya walked out of the theater, chatting lively about ideas for their future romances, Marinette explained her thoughts. "So if I can make him fall deeply in love with me, then he'll forget about Ladybug, right?"

"Of course! That's the spirit! I believe you can do it! But first, we have to get you to the point where you can speak with him."

At Alya's reminder over her communication problems, Marinette sighed. "That's true… but hoooowwwwww…."

Marinette's sentence was extended into a scream as she suddenly found herself being swept away, off of her feet, at an unbelievable speed.

"Watch out! Are you okay? Hold on to me and I'll get you somewhere safe!"

Marinette looked in surprise at her captor… or presumed rescuer. "Adrien!" She cried in shock, quickly covering her mouth as if to take back what she had said. It wasn't Adrien, it was Chat Noir… whose identity was supposed to be a secret from her, as Marinette.

After setting Marinette to her feet, Chat Noir looked at her quizzically. "Who did you call me?"

"Oh… uh… Sorry. I mistook you for a boy in my class… I didn't mean to. It's just that…," Marinette stammered before thinking to herself. Come on, girl… get yourself together. You can do this… "Wait, Alya! Where's Alya? What's going on, Chat Noir? We have to save Alya!"

"We?" Chat Noir looked at her in surprise. "You should stay here where it's safe, milady," he picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "I'll go find Alya."

Blushing a deep crimson, Marinette pulled her hand away. "Why are you such a flirt! I thought you liked Ladybug!"

Taken back by Marinette's sudden assertiveness and reminded of his precious Ladybug at the same time, Chat Noir smiled. "Of course I do. But she's not here right now."

"So that makes it okay to flirt with me?" Marinette spoke up without hesitation, only to become annoyed when Chat Noir continued to smile at her. "Don't you think she'd be upset over how much you flirt? Adrien isn't like that at all!" Marinette once again covered a hand over her mouth and turned away from him.

"I wonder what's taking her so long?" Chat Noir started to say, waiting a moment for Marinette's response. When it didn't come, though, he continued. "Ladybug is late… I wonder what is taking her so long. I can't do this alone."

"Well then why don't you go find her then? Maybe she's already saving Alya."

"Humm? Maybe?" Chat Noir started to say… but he couldn't help but wonder. "So, you like Adrien? Did you know that Ladybug likes Adrien Agreste, too? She was really worried about him last night at the arena."

At his words, Marinette's back stiffened. It was slight, but Chat Noir noticed the change in her posture. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You know, she's my partner, and I need her. It doesn't matter to me who she truly is. Whoever she is, I'll still love her. Wouldn't it make our partnership easier if we knew one another's identities? I wouldn't have to worry like this until she shows up, because she'd always be by my side."

Marinette slowly turned to face him. What should she do? She wanted to be mad at him. He was a flirt after all. But, wasn't it always herself who he flirted with… As Ladybug or as Marinette. Did it matter? And why must they keep their identities secret from each other? Besides, they were wasting time like this, Alya could be in trouble…

Chat Noir could see the resolve in her eyes and his faith grew that he was right about her identity. "Let's go, milady," he said with confidence, offering his hand for her to take.

"Tikki, Spots on!"

 **~END~**


End file.
